We have entered a very dangerous, though highly predictable, phase of Trump and MAGA’s efforts to manipulate the midterm elections. As Trump’s poll numbers plummet, as he loses the last vestiges of mental coherence, as Republicans and MAGA go into full panic mode, the Administration has opened a number of fronts to lay the groundwork for catastrophic interference in November. This is for our democracy, as David French wrote recently, “not a drill” — the siege has begun. 

Heather Cox Richardson has an excellent summation at her Substack, including some fascinating historical context. 

Don’t be mistaken, the various fronts — the Gabbard-led FBI raid in Fulton County, the Trump call to “nationalize” certain state elections (including Michigan’s), Steve Bannon’s claim that ICE will flood election sites, the revival of the SAVE Act in Congress — are in effect and mostly also in intention parts of a cohesive attack. They all involve a radical actualization of Trump/MAGA’s “governance” by innuendo, implication, and falsehood.

And it is not just the Administration and the Republican Congress. Here in Michigan, organizers of an astroturf ballot initiative that is basically a state-level replica of the worst elements of the SAVE Act, claim that they have reached the threshold needed to put the referendum on the ballot. This is extremely dangerous, since to the uninformed, the referendum will look like vote protection when it is exactly the opposite. So we have an uphill battle on our hands here. Fortunately, the very effective Voters Not Politicians — which brought us the exemplary Michigan anti-gerrymandering reforms — is on the task, as are others.

All of this shows the remarkable political effectiveness of continuous, amplified lying about election fraud, in the face of all evidence to the contrary. Pay attention and act where you can!